ONE® The Unified Gospel – What is a ‘Unified Gospel’?

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More than ten years ago, in 2006, One®: The Unified Gospel of Jesus was first published, with the Second Edition now released.

Even as a trained attorney, it took two-years of painstaking textual unification from the extant works, with the last six months of almost exclusive dedication. A work such as this required the latest digital tools, only recently made available.

What is different about ONE is that is has authority. ONE has a 3,000 entry “Unification Index” that tracks each clause back to the extant source individual clauses in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

Each of the four Gospelseach those four testimonieshas unique distinctions. That is, each Gospel may have a different set of parables. Or, two Gospels may supply two different parts of the same parable.

But, it is a fact that, for any reader to absorb the Gospels text as a complete concept, the reader must unify (or harmonize) the text of the four Gospels in his or her mind. Except for ONE, which is the first of its kind, there is simply no authoritative way to do the work of mental unification.

For example:

  • Only the Gospel of Matthew tells of the Wise Men visiting Jesus at birth.
  • Only the Gospel of Luke tells of the Shepherds visiting Jesus at birth.
  • Only the Gospel of Mark tells the time that Jesus was crucified.
  • Only the Gospels of Matthew and Luke (but not Mark and John) share the parable of the Poor Woman’s Gift (teaching that you know you’re really giving when it hurts).
  • Only the Gospels of Matthew and Mark (but not Luke or John) share Jesus’ expression of the Greatest Commandment (teaching, simply, to love).
  • Only the Gospel of John tells of Jesus washing the Apostles’ feet (teaching humility and service).
  • Only the Gospel of Luke tells the “Father forgive them, they know not what they do” quotation by Jesus from the cross (teaching forgiveness with understanding of transgressor weakness).

Sure, some of the text is drier, and some of the miracles will require suspension from reality for non-believers, just like other spiritual works. But, that said, a lot of it just rolls along with deepened lessons of spirituality and wisdom.

We don’t eat the fruit for the rind: we eat the fruit exactly for the part that we eat, not the part we throw away. And, there’s a lot in the Gospels for everyone to consume, including, e.g., a Muslim, Hindu, and Atheist, just as there’s a lot for all of us to learn from, e.g., the Koran, Bhagavad Gita, and Analects of Confucius. ONE, as a unified Gospel, may even be particularly beneficial for non-Christians, because it makes study of the Gospels and Jesus’ teachings more efficient and approachable.

And, if you’re not a big fan of organized religion, that’s okay. Jesus wasn’t a big fan of organized religion either.

Indeed, reading the Gospels can be more fun than the political debates, and, perhaps, at a more sophisticated level of play. For example, we can enjoy Jesus’ clever retort to “Give to Caesar what’s Caesar’s and to give to God what’s God’s” or his subtlety in exposing hypocrisies, such as using a “priest” to be the first person passing by the injured man in the parable of The Good Samaritan.

You’re probably curious about how “unification” works, so we placed examples on the website, http://www.ougpress.com/storefront/web/t-ONE_UnificationSamples.aspx. Click on the link and take a look.

I’ll provide one small, but important example, regarding teaching forgiveness:

In Matthew 18:21-22, the command to forgive is as follows: “Then Peter approaching asked him, ‘Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?’ Jesus answered, “You should forgive him, not seven times but seventy-seven times.

It is generally considered that Jesus means unending forgiveness. This teaching is not contained in the Gospel of Mark or Gospel of John. But, the parable is, in fact, also in the Gospel of Luke.

So, let’s now look at the Gospel of Luke. Now, in Luke, the story is similar, but different.

In Luke 17:3-4, it is as follows: “Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he wrongs you seven times in one day and returns to you seven times saying, ‘I am sorry,’ you should forgive him.

In the real-world, how does a non-scholar remember the fine distinctions between Gospels, particularly when these two source Gospels are often separated by the entire Gospel of Mark who does not mention the subject?

In ONE, the unified text reads something like:

1707 Then Peter approaching asked him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?” 1708 Jesus answered, 1709 “Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. 1710 And if he wrongs you seven times in one day and returns to you seven times saying, ‘I am sorry,’ you should forgive him. 1711 I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. [ONE: 1707-1711; T18:21-22; L17:3-4] (Note the new citation system.)

Look at the text of the two different Gospels above carefully to compare. A casual reader’s eyes tend to gloss over the major condition in Gospel of Luke, particularly because the parable was already generally addressed in the Gospel of Mark: forgiveness “if he repents.” If is a big little word. How the reader interprets the condition is for the reader, but the point is that the condition of the message becomes more clear when unified.

Unifying the text of the four Gospels, with a removal of duplicated text between or among the Gospels, gives ONE its ease and grace, but it is the 3,000 entry Unification Index gives ONE its authority and power. The Unification Index allows a reader to verify the unification methodology tracking back to the source. There is also a Reverse Unification Index that tracks from the source extant work into ONE, as well as a Word Index, both available for download. The Kindle version of ONE has been more recently updated.

Since ONE’s initial publication, I’ve been asked a variety of religious and philosophical questions to which I’ve responded in the ONE Weblog, at http://www.zegarelli.com/staff/grz/oneblog, and I invite similar questions directed to my LinkedIn email account or gregg.zegarelli@myonebible.com to which I would expect to respond on the blog forum.

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© 2016 Gregg Zegarelli, Esq. Gregg can be contacted through LinkedIn.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/one-unified-gospel-weblog-gregg-zegarelli-esq-

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